MEDIA RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 26, 2004

HUNDREDS OF PROTESTERS CONVERGE AT SUN PEAKS TO SUPPORT LAND STRUGGLE

KAMLOOPS, BC - On August 29, 2004, hundreds of protestors will meet at the Sun Peaks Resort near Kamloops, BC and rally to show support for the Secwepemc people in their struggle to save their unceded traditional territories and waters from the $285 million expansion of the Sun Peaks Ski Resort.

The provincial government’s decision to allow Japanese owner Nippon Cable and fellow investors Nancy Greene and Al Raine to expand the resort from 4000 to 24,000 bed units against the express desire of the Secwepemc people, who have owned and protected these waters and lands for thousands of years, is a travesty of justice. Chief Stewart Phillip, President of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs stated, "Our Elders and our young people will not be intimidated into abandoning their struggle to seek a just resolution of the Land Question in British Columbia."

Two significant Canadian court decisions, the Supreme Court’s Delgamuukw decision and BC Court of Appeal’s Haida Tree-Farm License case, clearly establish Aboriginal Title and Rights and the conditions under which provincial and corporate interests must seek and obtain consent from Indian nations to engage in development projects in their traditional territories. Tara Scurr, BC Regional Organizer for the Council of Canadians says, “We are dismayed by the attitude of Sun Peaks management, the Thompson-Nicola Regional District and provincial authorities in their disregard for these important rulings from the highest judicial authority in the country”.

As a result of their peaceful protests including information blockades, more than 50 elders and youth have been charged with trespassing and four youths spent 90 days in jail for protesting the expansion. Author of the best-selling book No Logo, Naomi Klein, recently visited Secwepemc territories to investigate the case. She writes: “Let’s be clear about something: the massive expansion of the Sun Peaks Resort is an act of violence. The Secwepemc have never ceded this land, and their Elders have clearly said no to this development. New condos are going up, and traditional Secwepemc cabins and sweat lodges are being brutally torn down.”

The provincial government must recognize that the international community will not invest in the province of British Columbia unless the letter of the law is scrupulously followed; to disregard the proprietary interests of Aboriginal Peoples will lead to further unrest and a lost opportunity to protect the future of this province for all future generations. Now it is time for the provincial and federal governments to recognize Secwepemc inherent title to this territory and stop the expansion of the Sun Peaks Resort.

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Various groups and organizations have endorsed this convergence. Speakers will include defenders of Secwepemc territories, Chief Stewart Philip (President of Union of BC Indian Chiefs), 72-year old Betty Krawczyk jailed for protesting the Working Forest legislation, Council of Canadians BC Regional Organizer Tara Scurr, and Professor Hari Sharma (President of South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy).